■ United States
Hacker hits air-force data
A suspected hacker has tapped into a US military database containing social-security numbers and other personal information for 33,000 air force officers and some enlisted personnel, an air force spokesman said on Tuesday. That figure represents about half of the officers in the air force, but no identity theft had been reported by Tuesday, a spokesman at Randolph Air Force Base said. Last Friday, the people affected were notified of steps they could take to protect their identity, he said. The military, while protecting classified information, has had trouble protecting data about its own people, a computer expert told the Washington Post, which first reported the story.
■ United States
Anti-Bush officer moved
An air-force officer accused of vandalizing car bumper stickers that support US President George W. Bush has been reassigned by the military to a non-supervisory position, an air-force spokesman said. Lieutenant Colonel Alexis Fecteau faces criminal mischief charges for allegedly blacking out Bush bumper stickers on cars at Denver International Airport and then spray-painting an expletive over them. Fecteau was reassigned on Aug. 10, said Colonel Dave Cannon, a spokesman for the Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base. Fecteau had been director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute at the base, supervising 11 full-time and 30 part-time reservists.
■ Mexico
Anti-dam protesters injured
At least 12 people were injured on Tuesday as protesters opposing a government plan to build a hydroelectric dam near the Pacific resort city of Acapulco clashed with police. The violence came as the Federal Electricity Commission announced that communal landowners in the community of Cacahuatepec had approved the expropriation of the land needed for the estimated US$800 million La Parota project. Some 400 demonstrators pelted a similar number of police officers with rocks and bottles, prompting authorities to fire tear gas. Investigators said at least 12 people had been hospitalized with injuries from the clash or because of tear gas inhalation.
■ Iraq
Saddam sacks lawyers
Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has sacked his entire foreign defense team and will in future deal only with his Iraqi lawyer, the special tribunal trying him confirmed on Tuesday. The former dictator told the judge that the Iraqi lawyer would inform the court if "a need arises, to enlist the assistance of other lawyers or consultants." Saddam's family has accused the foreign defense team, which has about 20 active lawyers, of using its position to further interests not linked to the case. Saddam is in US custody near Baghdad awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
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